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Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

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Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#201

Post by horstmeyer »

Panzer04 wrote: post #94
parentheses wrote: post #69

I absolutely despise microwaves. It comes from a (seemingly) irrational fear of my dad's - formerly a trained chemist, but also just a smart guy. 1. I feel that as with many products, microwaves are also maximized for perceived customer happiness - this means food hot ASAP. So, they're probably pushing out the legal maximum of energy in microwave form. "Better" microwaves are probably worse for this. 2. I notice a di…

What's wrong with microwaves? Aside from their mechanism of heating, what do they do differently to food to anything else? Arguably they get the outsides of some foods much hotter than otherwise, but I'm not sure how true that might really be - we regularly cook loads of other foods at very high temperatures in ovens or pans.

I had a organic chemistry professor when I studied biology at university, who said he was convinced that microwaves split amino acid chains in proteins, thus leading to free radicals which could be cancerogenic.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#202

Post by scoobitydoobap »

belorn wrote: post #199
autoexec wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this is one of those cases where I think it's better to take the cautious route. Now that we know we're ingesting massive amounts of plastics and it's been found in every human organ, and in blood, and in breast milk, etc I think it's probably a good idea to take what steps we can to cut down on it until things are more clear about the harms. Avoiding this exposure will be easy for me, because I was never very…

The biggest drawback I find with cast iron is the weight. The cleaning, as much as you are supposed to clean it, is generally simplistic. Either just hot water and a light brush or paper. A good thing to know is that any surface that get hot enough will release a bit into the food. Cast iron generally leech iron, stainless steel leech iron, nickel, and chromium, and ceramic leech whatever coating it has similar to no…

Carbon steel is similar to cast iron in that it gets "seasoned" over time, but is much lighter (and heats up more quickly and evenly).

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#204

Post by awb »

cj wrote: post #195
aziaziazi wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a parent, but curious: can’t you microwave glass booties ? I do microwave water in glass and don’t see problems. Is it the fragility of the glass ? In that case I guess any fabric protection can solve it ?

Not a parent, but guessing glass is bad because kids tend to throw things and glass is breakable.

I would use glass bottles to feed my kids, but I always held the bottle because the glass gets incredibly hot. I would wrap a towel around it to make it safe for me to hold.

By the time they could hold their own bottle we used plastic both for safe surface temperatures on the bottle and in case they threw it or dropped it as you mentioned.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#205

Post by gattr »

nprateem wrote: post #196
gattr wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

@Omin, @mda, just a side note: I recommend using the (centuries old, I guess) established typography rule and putting a space between the number and the unit symbol. See [1] for additional info. [1] SI Unit rules and style conventions, https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/checklist.html

I never understand this pedantry. The GP is commenting on a forum, not writing a research paper. Who cares how they write, as long as they're understood?

It's just visually jarring. Do you consider your use of spaces after commas and periods and capitalizing the first word in a sentence "pedantry"? To me it's at the same level.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#206

Post by IndrekR »

mrob wrote: post #146
Aurornis wrote: post #35

> Rather than introduce just the number of particles released by one container, the researchers instead exposed the cells to particle concentrations that infants and toddlers might accumulate over days or from multiple sources. > After two days, just 23% of kidney cells exposed to the highest concentrations had managed to survive So they used concentrations that they believe toddlers might accumulate over two days an…

It's bad reporting. The actual numbers from the abstract are "22.1 ng/kg·day" for the worst case ingested dose, and "1000 μg/mL" for the tested toxic concentration. If you assume the solvent is water (solvent isn't specified in the abstract but water is the obvious choice) and convert the units to make it easier to compare, that toxic dose is "1,000,000,000ng/kg". There's no plausible way a toddler is going to accumu…

At that rate it makes cumulatively about 36 mg of nanoplastics using this pathway over the average 70 year lifetime of average 70 kg human. That would be approximately 0.6 μg/mL concentration if all would accumulate, which is very unlikely. Sounds like there is no real need to worry.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#207

Post by Cymrukicks »

softwaredoug wrote: post #203

FYI you can buy glass “Tupperware” that works better than the plastic stuff. It’s more durable and easier to clean. Why did we start even buying plastic containers for this purpose?

Cost and weight, most people won't see the plastic version as something important and won't invest. Also the weight difference means transport to stores cost orders of magnitude more than the plastic so its more difficult to stock.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#208

Post by bazmattaz »

softwaredoug wrote: post #203

FYI you can buy glass “Tupperware” that works better than the plastic stuff. It’s more durable and easier to clean. Why did we start even buying plastic containers for this purpose?

Likely plastic was cheaper, easier to transport and easier disposed

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#209

Post by damnesian »

The dangers of microwaving plastic have been known for a long time. the advice has been the same for decades. Despite this, millions of microwavable meals in little plastic tubs continue to be cranked out. We now have the tools to quantify the actual effects but lack the fortitude to do anything about it. Plastic use is only on the increase with no end in sight. Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/282732/global-production...

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#210

Post by levmiseri »

gattr wrote: post #205
nprateem wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never understand this pedantry. The GP is commenting on a forum, not writing a research paper. Who cares how they write, as long as they're understood?

It's just visually jarring. Do you consider your use of spaces after commas and periods and capitalizing the first word in a sentence "pedantry"? To me it's at the same level.

This is a style issue. Not at all on the same level. The ISO standard defines a space, but many, many style guides suggest otherwise. E.g. Very often you will find advice to omit space for one-letter abbreviations (i.e. '100g' not '100 g') — I believe this specific one is in the Chicago Manual of Style.
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